


Three Daughters

by Murderbirb



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Hollow has had an EXTREMELY bad time, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Three Hornets AU, and by doozy I mean sad, first chapter is a doozy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:35:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29140128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murderbirb/pseuds/Murderbirb
Summary: A Drabble collection about Chipper-smol’s “3 Hornets” AU. The stories range from, “PK bonding with one of his children” to, “HERRAH NO, YOU’RE GONNA TRUAMATIZE HER.” Stories will be all over the timeline, but you’ll notice an arc when you see one.
Relationships: Herrah the Beast/The Pale King (Hollow Knight), The Pale King/White Lady (Hollow Knight)
Comments: 43
Kudos: 42





	1. Edelweiss’s Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edelweiss molted for the first time and grew a her wings, but Herrah doesn’t feel to comfortable about it.

Edelweiss had recently molted and, just as the King promised, she was sent back to Deepnest to see her mother quickly after the process was done. Edelweiss was slightly annoyed that she didn’t get to spend much time with her father this visit, but now, she was big! Like her sisters! Well father said she was only slightly taller, but that didn’t matter. She was so excited to show her mother and sisters. After a ride on the stag, she quickly ran over to her family, who was waiting at the station for her.

“Mama! I wend thwu my fiwst mowt!” It seems that, unlike her sisters, her lisp stayed through the molt. Herrah lifted her up before speaking again. “Oh honey, I’m so proud of you!” She rubbed her child’s back, but felt something as she did so. Little flaps that caused Edel to shudder as they were rubbed over.

She grew wings.

“Oh. I, um, see that you grew wings, sweetie.” Herrah spoke, obviously feeling awkward after finding out. Meanwhile, Edelweiss looked proud as ever. “Yeah! Dey awe just wike papa’s!” Herrah cringed a bit as Edel said that. Sigma glared up at Edel, and Lance looked curious about it. Herrah coughed to break the silence, before speaking again. “Do you want to go back to the den?” Edel nodded, before Herrah placed her down and started walking back, her daughters right behind her.

While walking home, Herrah was questioning herself. Why did only Edel grow wings? Sigma and Lance both just grew a few inches, yet Edel grew taller and a pair of wings? Well, Sigma did grow stronger teeth, but that didn’t stand out as much as wings. She could hear an argument behind her, probably Sigma and Edel arguing about the Wyrm, but she didn’t feel like interrupting it, as she didn’t have the patience. She opened the door to the nest, let her children walk in, then walked in herself.

——————————————————————

It’s been 3 days, yet Herrah still can’t get over the wings. Edelweiss was quite proud of them, and she would display them when ever she had the chance, but that only meant that Herrah had to see them more often. She hated the things. They were a permanent mark of the Wyrm and, while many weavers already gave her children side glances for the obvious Wyrm resemblance, it became worse, full-on glares, when Edel was showing her wings. All the wings did was shame her daughters for being the children of an outsider. Herrah didn’t want her children to go through that so she made a decision. A decision that hurt to make, but she knew it was for the best. 

“Edel?” She called out, and the little girl quickly ran up from downstairs to her. “Yesh, mama?” She looked so innocent, and it hurt to see her this happy, knowing what she had to do. “I need you to come with me, honey.” Edel quickly complied, following Herrah until they reached her room. Herrah opened the door and walked in.

The room had three beds, one for each child. There was a bookshelf, a dresser, and a box full of toys. The walls were decorated with webs and drawings. Herrah then sat down on Edelweiss’s bed and motioned for her to sit down as well, which she did as well. Herrah gave out a huff before speaking. “Honey, I think we need to talk about your wings.”

Edelweiss looked at her, confused. “Is dere someting wong wit dem?” Herrah responded after. “Well, the wings are the problem. You see, barely any weavers here are even ok with the King, and I worry about how they will treat you if you become even more like him. There were already many who showed you no respect since you are part-Wyrm, and I don’t want that to get worse.” Herrah finished, and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to tell Edel the full reason why. It would make her cry, so she refused to tell her. She opened her eyes and was met with the heartbroken look of her daughter. “Bu-bud whud am I supposhed ta do?”

Herrah looked back before speaking. “I know what we can do. I warn you, it will hurt, but it will help you after that. Ok?” Edel nodded. Herrah quickly moved to her back and lifted her cloak until she found her wings. They were pure white, practically shining, yet so small. She grasped one wing in her claw. “I’m sorry.” She whispered before she pulled.

The wing was torn straight from the socket, and Edel yelped in pain before crying out, “Mama, why’d you do dat?” Tears were already forming at her eyes, but Herrah responded quickly, “Don’t worry, honey. This will be over soon.” She grabbed another and yanked. Blood was seeping out of the wounds and tears were running off Edel’s cheeks. “Mama, why do you have ta do dis?” Her voice was being choked by sobs and pain. Herrah spoke again, trying to soothe her daughter. “Calm down. Mama is just doing what is best for you.” She grabbed another wing. Yank. The wounds were bleeding so much. “Mama, it huwts so much.” She was crying in agony. “Shhhh. It’s ok, honey. Only a bit longer.” She grasped the last wing and pulled. 

Every wing was gone. Herrah quickly pulled out bandages and covered the wounds. She focused on her daughter. Her tears were staining her cloak and her whole body was shaking. “Now sweetie, it may hurt for a while, but once it’s over, it won’t hurt at all, ok?” Herrah spoke softly, yet her daughter didn’t respond. She just tilted over and buried her head in her pillow. Herrah sighed before standing up, “Take as much time as you need.” She walked to the door and left the room.

She felt guilty. Who knows how long he daughter will be angry about that, but that didn’t matter. Herrah refused to let her children grow up to be Wyrms. She wouldn’t let’s the King take them from her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know, I’ll have this “Herrah removed Hornet’s wings” thing carry over to other AUs. It’s sad and I like sad.


	2. Soul Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The King teaches Edelweiss and Lance the basics on soul magic

The Courtyard was normally quite lively. Most days, new guards would be trained here, but ever since the infection was dealt with, guarding the Palace because less of a priority. Still, guards would be trained here daily, going through drills, making sure that they would be ready for anything. Today, though, the King called off the drills, as he had important plans for today. It was time for his daughters to learn how to use soul magic.

Well, only two of them. Despite how hard he tried, he couldn’t convince Sigma to even come to the palace, let alone have him teach her how to use soul. So, he chose to settle with only teaching Edel and Lance. Edel was quite happy to learn it, but the King was surprised to see how easy it was to convince Lance to learn it. She did spend a lot of time around Hollow, and they were proficient in soul magic, so he guessed it made sense.

The two children were standing next to the statue in the courtyard. The statue depicted the king, dressed in regal robes and with his wings flared out. The King had it built not just as a decoration, but for efficiency. It doubled not only as a grand monument to the king, but also as a container of soul. It was set up when the vessel was training so that they wouldn’t need to travel to the other statues around the palace when they run out of their soul.

The King walked over to them, hands held behind his back. “Hello, my children. As you both know, a few weeks ago you molted again and, from what it seems like, you’ve gotten to an age where you are ready to start your soul training.” His daughters stood still, but he could still see how much Lance was focusing on him. He continued to speak. “Soul is something that resides in all creatures. It’s what allows our bodies to run and allows us to grow. Despite this, soul is most known for it’s magical purposes. It can be used to create items, summon weapons, or to accelerate healing. Most bugs would need to spend at least half of their life to learn how to harness the soul in their bodies but, since I am a higher being and you carry my blood, we are able to harness soul much more easily.” He held a hand out and small, light orbs formed in his palm, gathering the attention of both of his daughters.

“Now, to begin the training. Before we learn anything advanced, you should learn the basics.” Lance seemed to look a tad annoyed after hearing that, but the King didn’t focus on that. “The most basic form of soul magic is focusing. Focusing is the foundation for most magic, as it allows the user to shape the soul to their desires. The key is to keep it and yourself stable. Too much movement could stress you out, and cause you to lose “focus” on it.” The King laughed a bit to himself. “You should stay still as to keep yourselves calm while doing so.”

———————————————————————

Edelweiss was only half focused on what her father was saying. He was teaching them how to focus soul into her hand, but she kept thinking back to what her father told her when she asked to be taught how to use soul magic. When she found out from Hollow that her father was going to teach her sisters how to use soul magic, she felt angry. He was going to teach them and not her? What was the reason for that? When she confronted him about it, he explained the reason.

“The wings of Wyrms are able to contain large amounts of soul in them. About 500 times more than a normal bugs body per wing. Since you grew wings, I worry that your body will try to take soul from the wings, despite them not being there and I believe that that will just hurt you instead.”

Edel was shocked to find this out. Her missing wings may just mean that she will be stuck with constant pain whenever she uses soul. She felt anger rising in her, knowing that this was her mother’s fault. But, more than anger, she felt sadness. This was something she was hoping she could do to spend more time with her father, especially since he has to do far more work recently with the rising tension between Hollownest and Pharloom. She only got to spend a few hours with him in the last few days, besides dinner.

She snapped herself out of her thoughts when she heard her father speak again, louder than before. “Now, both of you try it.” Both her and Lance nodded before holding a hand slightly out. She closed her eyes before focusing, trying form some soul in her hand, before she felt an aching pain in her back form. She tensed up upon feeling it. She wanted to release a small yelp of pain, but she kept her mouth from letting out any noise. She wouldn’t let this pain keep her from continuing her training. She knew that her father wouldn’t allow her to continue training if he knew that it hurt her this much just to focus, especially since he wouldn’t stop asking her if she had second thoughts about doing the training. She straightened her posture, trying to make sure she wouldn’t let out any noise of pain. She was lucky that father didn’t notice the discomfort she was in. “Ah, good job, both of you!” The King had a smile on his face, as both Edel and Lance had been able to focus their soul into their hands. 

“Now, to teach you the most basic piece of soul magic, healing. Healing wounds is one of the most important skills in magic, as it allows you to deal with your injuries quicker, which could save your life if you are too injured. Unfortunately, soul healing isn’t some type of panacea. It can’t cure illnesses and, more importantly, if and injury is bad enough, or if the tissue around the injury is dead, then it can’t be healed.” The soul in his hand formed into a dagger, which he promptly took and made a cut on his arm. “Since I have mastered soul, it’s possible for me to heal my wounds just from focusing on healing them, but to help you train, you should simply hold the soul nearby the wound to make it easier for the soul to travel to that area. Now, watch closely.” He brought his hand to his wound and he slowly clenched it, as the soul went into the injury and mended it, until there was no sign that he even cut himself. “The key to soul healing is keeping the right speed. Make it to slow and the soul will have time to move to places other than the wound. Make it too fast and you won’t give the soul any room to move to the wound. If you keep a steady pace, the soul will move fast enough that it will easily travel to the wound, but slow enough that you won’t break the wound apart in your palm.”

Both Edel and Lance nodded, before summoning more soul in her palm, nearly letting out another cry of pain, but kept the noise from escaping. Her father spoke again, “We’re just going to practice moving the soul from you palm to your body, as I think it’s a bit too dangerous to start by training on open wounds. You could accidentally harm the wound and make it unable to heal.” Edel and Lance nodded once again, before beginning their training.

(30 minutes later)

Too slow. Again. She had been trying this for so long, yet she couldn’t get it down. Lance had been able to successfully do it about 20 minutes ago, yet she was barely even halfway there. Even worse, the pain on her back was only getting worse. It started as a simple ache on her back, but has turned into painful jabs. It took all the strength in her to not scream from all of the pain. She sighed, preparing to try again. She held her hand close to her other arm. She focused until the soul appeared in her hand before slowly clenching her palm into a fist. The soul slowly began to move from her hand to her arm, but before it was done, she felt a surge of pain in her back. And this time, she couldn’t hold back her scream.

“AAAAAAAUGH!”

She toppled over after the surge. She was kneeling, with an arm holding her back, it it pure agony. It quickly caught the attention of the King, who was explaining the importance of form when using magic to Lance. He quickly rushed over to her side before asking, “Are you ok? Did you hurt yourself?” He glanced up from her face to see her clutching her back, right where her wings were. His face turned from worry to sadness as he looked back at his daughter. “Oh, Edelweiss. This is why I advised against you learning soul magic.”

Edelweiss’s was shocked. No no no! She didn’t want to lose this, not when it was so important to her. The King sighed. “I believe we should talk about this later. For now, return to your room and we will speak of this after Lance is finished training.” Edel began to shake before responding, “Father, please! I can still learn to use my magic! You shouldn’t worry about my wi-“

“You will return to your room, now.” The King interrupted, voice sterner than she had ever heard before. She was about to talk back to him, but he spoke first. “Now.” He huffed afterward. She looked back at him, before lowering her head, turning around, and walking out of the courtyard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I making another chapter after this about Lance and the talk between PK and Edelweiss.


	3. Wings of Dreams, Eyes of Terror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hollow’s guilt haunts them. Guilt of the night where they destroyed the old light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, since Chipper’s version of this AU was inspired by Payasita’s “Will Terribly” fic, there is stuff that carries over. Obviously, I made a few changes, including a change to the ending, so spoiler warning for the end of that fic.
> 
> Also, sorry for any typos. I wrote this while I was tired and I was too lazy to proofread it.

Hollow tosses and turned in their bed, a nightmare plaguing their mind. A nightmare of the night they killed the old light. They shouldn’t be having a nightmare about this, right? That day was happy! It was the day their father finally accepted them as their child! It was the day that the infection was ending! They shouldn’t be hurt by it, right?

If only what needed to happen wasn’t so costly. Now, their dreams were tormented by the memories of that night.

——————————————————————

The Nightmare heart was forcing open the weak point of the Radiance. She screamed out in pain as her face was torn open and the essence in her began to shine. The Heart quickly beckoned Hollow to approach. They immediately knew what to do, as their shade released tendrils from their form. 

They swung, and the Radiance released a scream of pain. Another swing, another scream. Then again and again and AGAIN AND AGAIN. They couldn’t stop swinging, and they savored the screams of pain that the Radiance released upon each strike. Every few swings, they would hear another scream that sounded like it was from a different voice, but they ignored it. They needed to destroy the old light.

It didn’t take long, but the Hollow Knight had calmed down. Their swings came to a halt, and they stared at the Radiance, whose essence was spilling out of her like a waterfall. Soon, the goddess of dreams would be nothing more than a myth. Hollow was snapped out of their thoughts when they heard another voice crying in pain. They turned to look at the Nightmare Heart.

It was just as injured as the Radiance. It was dying. Hollow had attacked it too.

Hollow began to panic. No! They don’t want the Heart to die! It just helped them! They quickly moved over to the Heart, searching over it, hoping that there was something they could do, but it was obvious that they couldn’t do anything. Essence was pouring from out of it’s wounds. Tears began to form at the rims of Hollow’s eyes, as they circled the Heart, trying to find a way to fix it, before the voice of the Heart entered their head. 

“Focus.....” the Heart whispered. “Close your eyes and focus.” 

Hollow was slightly confused, but it didn’t take long for them to understand. If they focused their soul, they could heal the heart, right? They slowly clutched their hand and closed their eyes, slowly focusing. 

It stung. Why did focusing sting so much? They shorty after opened their eyes, only to witness something they didn’t notice. They weren’t summoning soul by focusing, they were absorbing the essence around them. They quickly panicked again, and attempted to unclench their hand, yet it wouldn’t budge. “No no no! I don’t want to do this! Please!” All they could do was watch as the essence from the Heart and the Radiance was absorbed into their body. It hurt, as the essence burned in their shell, as if there was a war in their body. It hurts please stop PLEASE IT BURNS PLE- 

They quickly stood up, yet their vision was blurry and their head was aching. They slowly focused their vision on the bright light they saw, until they were finally able to make out the form of their father, who had two smaller creatures near him, which Hollow soon could see were Edel and Sigma. Finally, they could make out Lance, who was lying unconscious in her father’s arms. 

Soon after Hollow woke up, the King and his daughters noticed and went over to them. The children asked question after question to Hollow, but their head was aching so much that it was hard to make every word out. Meanwhile, the King stared at Hollow, a look of shock on his face. Hollow quickly signed out “Father, are you ok?” The King ignored this sudden realization that the Vessel could sign to instead respond. “Vessel, your wings, your face! Did...did you absorb the Radiance and the Nightmare heart?” 

Hollow became shocked by this and tried to find out what he meant. They grabbed one of their pauldrons off of their armor and used it as a mirror. On the right side of their face was a black line, a sign of the Grimm troupe. Feelings of guilt began to build up fast, but they froze with fear when they turned the mirror and saw their wings. Golden brown, and very tendril-like. 

Just like the Radiance. 

It didn’t take long for them to panic. They began to hyperventilate as they put their hands on their head, as if that could protect their mind from the terrible thoughts that bombarded them. The King and his daughters quickly noticed Hollow’s distress. While the daughters grabbed onto Hollow’s legs, trying to give them a hug, the King simply spoke soft words in an attempt to soothe Hollow. “Vessel, please calm down. It’s ok. You are safe. The battle is over.” Despite this, Hollow’s stress couldn’t be calmed, as they darted their head around the room frantically, as if they would just see something to calm them down, until they saw Grimm. The lifeless corpse of Grimm. It was exactly as they feared. They had killed Grimm. 

Before they knew it, dark, inky tears were pouring down their face. While the children were worried and confused, the King seemed to quickly notice what they saw, as he spoke to them. “Vessel, this isn’t your fault. Grimm knew the risks of absorbing the infection. He knew of it’s fatal dangers. It’s not your fault that he is gone.” 

“No! It is my fault!” Hollow signed, “I killed him. I attacked the Radiance and I killed the heart along with her. Now he is dead, and it’s all my fault!” Tears ran down their face and they fell on their knees. The King felt horrible, horrible that he didn’t know what to say to comfort his child, who he had neglected and dehumanized for so long. He had to help them. This won’t make up for what he had done, but it’s better than nothing.

The King walked over to Hollow and wrapped his arms around them, as he spoke words to soothe them. For so long, the King stood there with his child, as tears poured out of their eyes. Hollow had become the new god of Dreams and Nightmares, and they only felt guilt for that. 

——————————————————————

*Crash*

Hollow was suddenly awoken from their nightmare when they fell off their bed onto the floor. Their body was hurting from the fall, and they noticed that tears were falling down their face. They didn’t even pull themselves back up into their bed, they just curled up in a ball and cried. 

They always had wanted their father to accept them as their child. They never wanted this, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t worry. Hollow will get the comfort they need in the next chapter.


End file.
